[Greg Reid]

I've found that it's not generally a good thing to buy that kind of stuff too far ahead of the time you are going to use it. I had the same problem with a vinyl top. Good deal (I thought) so I bought it. I had it for 6 or 7 years before I started test fitting it. Must have been for a completely different model of car as it was two feet short.

[Murf]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I've found that it's not generally a good thing to buy that kind of stuff too far ahead of the time you are going to use it. I had the same problem with a vinyl top. Good deal (I thought) so I bought it. I had it for 6 or 7 years before I started test fitting it. Must have been for a completely different model of car as it was two feet short.

Thanks man!


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[68ragtop]

Well, I peeled off the jute backing on the rear carpet & repositioned it. Part of the problem was the jute was holding wrinkles in the carpet, but some of them seemed to be formed wrinkles the same way sheet metal gets wrinkles when its stamped. I was thinking of sending it back, but for what they cost, I just decided to see what I could do with it. Its going around with a head gun, but gotta be carful how warm you get it. Guess that goes without saying. Biggest thing is there are areas that look ok but do not fully rest on the floor, Almost like its sorta shaped to the floor pans, but not quite. I am going to send some of the pictures to ACC to see what they think. They were pretty quick about getting back to me last week.

[Greg Reid]

Per request, posting this diagram I sketched a few years ago to illustrate one (reportedly factory) method of carpet installation.. Not to scale, obviously, ie., the distance from the front and rear edge of the respective carpets to the base of the 'L'. That distance is determined by the stud location and the carpet size...
Also the written directions swiped from the Chevelle site.. I adjusted my measurements slightly..that is, his 1.5" cut is my 2"cut, his .5" spacing is my 1" spacing...

1. Locate your forward mount points for your seat(s) make a 1.5" cut left to right, about .5"aft of those mount points. Center of the cut should be center of the mount point. Fig 1

2. From the center of the 1.5" cut,make a cut all the way back to the seam for the front to rear carpet.You will make 1 of these cuts for each forward seat mount point. Fig 2

3. For the rear mount bolts repeat the cuts as above. Except the 1.5" cut will be towards the forward side of the mount bolts. Make the lengthwise cut meet he lengthwise cuts you made in the foward carpet pieces.

4. Now from the underseat seam roll rear carpet section aft and the forward carpet section forward.

5. Install seat securing it to the floor with proper hardware and to proper torque.

6. Roll/Stuff rear carpet piece under your seat(s). Now do the foward carpet. Front carpet lays over the top of the rear carpet.
Installation complete Seat plastic trim was removed for clarity.

[68ragtop]

Great info! This is another area I deviated a little from stock.
I looked at a friends original 72 GTO carpet & just couldn't bring myself to cut all of that carpet away under the seat.
hidden for the most part, but looks terrible imo.

So, I compromised. I cut the slots like you have drawn for the feet & studs to be under the carpet, but did not cut the access between front & back. Rather I installed the fasteners from under the carpet. while its not correct, it looks extremely clean & someone could always cut the rest of it out if they wanted to.

[Verdoro 68]

Thanks Greg, much appreciated!

It looks like the flap is cut to cover the tracks, do you have the seat track bolts under the carpet or on top? I've seen a couple other pics where the flap is cut the entire length of the track and there's an additional perpendicular cut so the carpet lays down over the bolt for the seat track.

[Greg Reid]

Everything is under the carpet using this method. The cuts just allow you to slip the 'feet' of the seat tracks underneath.
If my drawing represents the inboard area, there is a mirror image for the outboard feet. When you look at it after installation, the feet basically enter the two inch slots that represent the 'base' of the 'L' and are bolted under the carpet where my drawing shows the stud. The stud and nut are under the carpet.
Another way of looking at it is, you could bolt the seats down with no carpet and slip the feet into the slot by rolling the section of carpet between the 'L's back (or forward as the case may be) and then rolling the excess under the seat between the feet.
Hope that's clear.
Of note is, the photo of my carpet on the previous page already has the slits cut. When I put the seats in, the pedestal of the 'foot' slipped into the 2 inch slot and over the stud. All under the carpet.

Ken, 68ragtop's post verifies that there must have been a number of different ways they did it at the factory. My method is one I saw on the Chevelle site. No need to cut the entire patch from under the seat and you still get the same access to the floorboards (without removing the seats) if you want to lift the carpet for some reason.

[68ragtop]

I agree, I think I have some (bad) pictures I took of the 72's carpet, & taken while the seats where still installed. Not sure if I still have them, but I will look. It was like a square of carpet missing under the seat!
But, keep in mine this is a 72. I would think the whole idea was to install the seats after the carpet is installed, be able to flip up the carpet enough to install the fasteners quick & easy, then hide them with the flaps. I would imagine this was likely pre cut before the carpets went into the cars? And if so, probably fit different from car to car. Just a guess though...

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

I would imagine this was likely pre cut before the carpets went into the cars? And if so, probably fit different from car to car. Just a guess though...

I would think so. Would be pretty easy to come up with a template for the cuts for each model, including bench seat models.

One more tip.... anywhere you DO want to make a hole, eg. seatbelt bolts, don't use a drill! Use a soldering iron or woodburning kit that you don't care too much about.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Everything is under the carpet using this method. The cuts just allow you to slip the 'feet' of the seat tracks underneath.
If my drawing represents the inboard area, there is a mirror image for the outboard feet. When you look at it after installation, the feet basically enter the two inch slots that represent the 'base' of the 'L' and are bolted under the carpet where my drawing shows the stud. The stud and nut are under the carpet.
Another way of looking at it is, you could bolt the seats down with no carpet and slip the feet into the slot by rolling the section of carpet between the 'L's back (or forward as the case may be) and then rolling the excess under the seat between the feet.
Hope that's clear.
Of note is, the photo of my carpet on the previous page already has the slits cut. When I put the seats in, the pedestal of the 'foot' slipped into the 2 inch slot and over the stud. All under the carpet.

Makes sense and sounds like a clean install. I like the idea of tucking the fasteners under the carpet vs. and additional flap.

There are a few pics of original carpet in this thread: http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...20#post4862320

It's kind of hard to make out, but I think these pics show what you are describing in your drawing.

[Greg Reid]

That's exactly it except I did not remove any carpet where they have the thin strip removed.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

That's exactly it except I did not remove any carpet where they have the thin strip removed.

That's an installation oddity from back in the day I don't understand. I want as much carpet on the floor of my car as possible!

[68ragtop]

Exactly how I remember the 72 I mentioned above is as well

[Verdoro 68]

Installed new carpet this afternoon using Greg's cut instructions. It looks way better than having the tracks sit on top of the carpet! I didn't really know it was all going to come together until I put the seats in. For some reason I thought the flaps of carpet covered the tracks, but I learned that they're really there so you can move the carpet out of the way to tighten the seats down. Everything laid flat once installed.





Something kind of interesting - or maybe not. I was replacing ~15 year old ACC carpet with new ACC carpet. The texture of the carpet is different and the insulation is thicker. Maybe mine just got stomped flat over the years. The heel pad on the new carpet is on the glossy side too. The old one was matte.

[68ragtop]

Probably one the reasons GM eventually went to the plastic feet covers. I wonder what year that started? mid 70's?

[68ragtop]

This was what I ended up doing. I taped over the foot area & marked the studs, drew the cutout area & cut the slots. Then installed the front carpet & did the same thing. Had to install the hardware from under the sides of the carpet, but turned out pretty clean. Incorrect from how GM did it, but still had that clean "no feet" original look. I was going to cut the flaps & this looked so clean I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I figured In the same way you can't see the cutout GM originally did, you cannot really see that I didn't do it unless your really looking for it

[Greg Reid]

Very neat installs in both cases.

[68ragtop]

Even though mine is incorrect,
But a nice compromise & still better than putting the feet on top. (like I did on my first carpet....) oooops.

[Verdoro 68]

Got some used sleeves for the lap belts to replace my ripped up old ones. How do these go on? It looks like the bolt should go through the hole in the sleeve, but then it's pretty much impossible to tighten the bolt down.

[68ragtop]

You Have it correct, Pull the belt partially out right where its exposed on the metal tab, then you can open the plastic/rubber cover like a clam shell & tighten down the bolt with a wrench. Those bolts are the shoulder type so they don't crush down on the backside. Then pull the belt tight and slip the cover back over. Good thing some of these stay flexible over the years.